Psychological Writings

Original Articles should include the following sections (see below) and take into account the following specific guidelines besides the General Instructions to Authors. Furthermore, articles about the construction or adaptation of an assessment instrument should also follow the specific guidelines for these studies.

· Original Articles

Introduction
■ Background literature on the research problem.
■ Justify the need to study the research problem and its importance.
■ State clearly and concisely the main goal of the research and its hypotheses.

Method
■ Participants

-Recruitment procedure, specifying the inclusion and exclusion criteria.
-Agreement to participate (voluntary, economic or academic compensation, etc.).
-Detailed description of the sample (number, age, sex, and other features relevant to the research).
-Research with experiments on animals should include: species, number of animals, sex, age, weight and physiological state.
-A clear statement that the ethical guidelines appropriate to the procedure and population have been followed.

-Description of all materials used in the study: measurement and stimulation devices, questionnaires, psychological tests, etc.
-Technical specifications of laboratory equipment, including brand and model.

-Detailed description of the research process. This description should be sufficiently detailed to allow the study to be replicated and its value assessed.
-Description of the experimental design including the dependent and independent variables, measurement procedure and, if pertinent, manipulation procedure and strategies to control extraneous variables.

Results
■ Statistical analysis: parameter values, degrees of freedom, significance level; direction, power and size of the effect.
■ The results are related to the study aims and hypotheses.
■ Descriptive statistical data including mean, standard deviation or standard error of the mean.
■ Tables or figures to illustrate the results providing they do not duplicate the information in the text.

Discussion
■ Brief summary of the main results avoiding detailed information previously included in the text.
■ Evaluation and interpretation of the results in the context of the hypotheses and evidence from previous research.
■ Theoretical implications of the results, with special attention to the most novel and important contributions of the study. Groundless conclusions should be avoided.
■ Future research perspectives and clinical implications, if appropriate.

References
Instructions to Author General

Appendixes
■ Detailed description of the material (e.g., mathematical derivatives, original software, unpublished tests or questionnaires, stimuli, etc.).

Authors’ Notes
■ Acknowledgements.
■ Sources of funding.

Figures and/or tables
Instructions to Author General

· Original Articles. Construction or Adaptation of Assessment Instruments

Manuscripts focussing on the construction or adaptation of an assessment instrument should provide additional information to be included in the following sections:

Introduction
■ Study justification: theoretical and practical arguments should be provided to substantiate the contribution of the construction or adaptation of the instrument.
■ Conceptual framework related to the construct to be assessed based on a theoretical review and including its operational definition.

Method
■ Procedure

-Construction and qualitative assessment of items: criteria applied for items selection, justification of the response format, number of items, etc.
-Test translation procedure, if pertinent.
-Content validity study.
-Description of the test administration process.

Results
■ Pilot study of the first draft: qualitative and quantitative items analyses.
■ Test administration: results of the studies on the psychometric quality of the instrument:

-Internal structure study and, if an adaptation, comparison with the structure of the original test.
-Reliability study of the dimensions of the instrument and, if appropriate, of the total score. In the case of an adaptation of an existing test, these results should be compared with the original instrument.
-Studies to obtain external evidence of validity.
-If appropriate, study of the differential items functioning in relation to individual variables that are relevant to understanding the phenomenon which is being investigated.

Authors are required to follow the AERA, APA and NCME methodological guidelines in the development of psychological and education tests. For more information consult:

AERA, APA and NCME, (1999). Standards for educational and psychological tests. Washington DC: American Psychological Association, American Educational Research Association, National Council on Measurement in Education.

Carretero-Dios, H. y Pérez, C. (2005). Normas para el desarrollo y revisión de estudios instrumentales. International Journal of Clinical and Health Psychology, 5, 521-551.